✨Im Literary Anxious✨

Estimated Reading Time🕒 5 Minutes

𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿: L.J. Andrews ✍🏻 𝗣𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁: 352 📖

𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘀:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
𝗦𝗽𝗶𝗰𝗲:🌶️🌶️.5
𝗡𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝘆𝗹𝗲: Dual POV
𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁: Series (Book #2 of 9)
𝗘𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝘆𝗽𝗲: Cliffhanger

𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀: 5/5
𝗣𝗹𝗼𝘁: 5/5
𝗪𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: 5/5
𝗣𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴: 5/5
𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴: 5/5
𝗤𝘂𝗼𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆: 4/5

“𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒎𝒂𝒏. 𝒀𝒐𝒖’𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒆, 𝑬𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝑳𝒚𝒔𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓.”

👑Chosen One
🌼Hidden Identities
👑Political Intrigue
🌼Betrayal
👑Brooding MMC
🌼Wedding Crashing
👑Surprise Family “Reunions”
🌼Mischievous Fate Storyteller
👑Guild of Shade Expansion
🌼Jarl is Still a Dung Nugget

Agh, so much to love about this book.

L.J. knows how to pack a story with multiple characters, action, and plotlines and still make it flow as smooth as butter.

She starts setting us up for the next part of the series, and, of course, I’m so ready for it. I might be physically on book two, but mentally? I’m already on book four. 😆

We’re formally introduced to Ari in this installment, and honestly, we should all feel honored. It’d been so long since I last read this series that I forgot how Elise describes him. As the books progress, we get to know him as the guy who always has a joke ready. But let’s be real— you wouldn’t want to run into Ari Sekundar in a dark alley… or… maybe you would 👀😏

Meanwhile, Valen spends about 85% of the book trying to push Elise away “to keep her safe.” (Ugh, men.) He denies that she’s his hajarta, denies having feelings for her—denies everything, basically.

“I didn’t want her as queen.”

Elise continues to be the ultimate BAMF warrior.
Breaking Mattis out of jail? Check ✔️
Leading a rescue mission to the quarries? Check ✔️
Facing off against trash puppets like Runa and Jarl? Double check ✔️✔️
Surviving the double wedding from hell? Absolutely 😏

Does she always end up in the riskiest, most dangerous situations? Yes.
Does she keep sassing and fighting no matter how dire it gets? Also yes.

And that, my friends, is why Elise Lysander deserves to be queen.

My favorite moment, without a doubt, is when Valen finally reveals his true identity to Ari. (It only takes an entire kidnapping to get him to spill, but we’ll let it slide.)

[…]

Ari: “What is your name? Your true name?”

Valen: “I have several. But most know me as Valen Ferus, the Night Prince.”

*Ari, probably*

Another highlight:
 

“My name is Valen Ferus, the Night Prince of Etta! And you, false king, you are in my seat.”
Chills. Every. Single. Time.

There’s so much to love about this book that it’s impossible to cover it all without diving into spoiler territory. And trust me, there are some BIG twists I don’t want to ruin for anyone.
 

In conclusion, I loved this book just as much the second time around as I did the first. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go brain-dump my thoughts on Crown of Blood and Ruin because I have zero shelf control and dove straight into book three after finishing this one. 😅